The Unsinkable Queen
by lilyrose4321
Summary: Marie Gaffney and her family have suffered in Ireland long enough and Titanic is their solution. Marie finds sanctuary, friends and a love on the grand ship, but with one wrong mistake, her world is sinking, quite literally.


Chapter 1

Boarding

"Marie! Take hold of your brother!" I heard mam say harshly. Probably more rudely than she meant to, but she didn't apologize as she shoved my two year old brother into my arms.

"Tickets." An officer shouted, as if my mother and my family were twenty feet away instead of one foot away. She handed him the five tickets and the slip of paper that the health inspector had given us saying we were all in the clear and very healthy. The officer waved us through and with that we stepped onto Titanic.

I had to gasp as we boarded. The ship was bigger on the inside than I had imagined! Beautiful furnishings and artwork covered the white walls. I had to wonder, if this was how beautiful it was in third class, how was it in first? I decided to save the exploration until later. My mother was struggling with three suitcases and my younger sisters.

I set Charles, my brother, down and held his hand as I scolded my sisters for misbehaving and took hand of a suitcase. My mother gave me a grateful smile and with that we headed down the crowded hall to find our room.

It was so overwhelming- the halls, the people, the confusion. Everyone was excited- We had passed our room twice and had to double around to get back to it. But once we had found it, all of us held our breath as mam opened the door to reveal a small, clean room.

We all gasped with excitement and my two sisters climbed the top bunk and started to bounce and giggle with joy. I set down the luggage and took the second top bunk across from them.

"No, Marie." Mam replied to my getting comfortable on the soft bed. "We only get this bunk."

I sat up, understanding completely that mam would have loved two bunks, but couldn't afford it. I immediately wondered who would be the people sharing with us.

My question was answered a few moments later.

As we just finished settling in, a young couple with a four year old son walked in. The young woman was beautiful with her long, curly ginger locks surrounding her kind face and her belly round with child. Her husband was a tall, lean, handsome man who smiled as he entered with their few belongings. Their son was precious with his head filled with black hair and his eyes, wide and blue.

Mam, as well as I, was relieved. We knew that we had both been thinking the worst. Drunken men, perverted men, thieves, and other such malevolent people that we would have to have shared the room with. But the young couple- meek woman with child, her friendly husband and small son- was quite a relief.

Mam, being the sociable person she is, started immediately with questions- sparking up a conversation. No one was more chatting than Mam.

About twenty minutes later, she had found out their names (Harry and Celeste McCormick) , their son's name (Thomas) his age (which I was correct about: 4 years), how long they had been married. (5 years) where they were from (Dublin, Ireland), and did they know the O'Matties, our cousins, (which they did and thought them very nice folk). Why were they were going to America (the same reason we were: to get away from Ireland and find new hopes), how far along Celeste was with the baby (seven months exactly), what Harry did for a living (worked in the coal mines- but grabbed the chance for America as soon as he heard about Titanic), did he like the coal mines (no).

By the end of the hour, they were best friends with mam and me and had planned to share a home with us when we arrived in America because mam said that with Harry finding work, Celeste shouldn't be having to take care of new born and a five year old boy by herself.

I knew what else was on her mind as well. She knew that without a man living with them, she wouldn't be as likely to find a fit home and with her being a woman, she would have no reasonable income. But she wouldn't say this to them because Mam was as kind as anything. What she was doing was not taking advantage of them, though it may sound like it, she was helping them for a small price in exchange. They knew this even if she wouldn't say it. And they also knew that kindness like this was hard to come by.

So we were as thick as thieves and I knew that now would be an excellent time to ask mam to explore the ship.

"Mam?" I asked when Celeste and mam ceased the conversation for a moment. "May I go about the ship?"

Mam shook her head immediately. "No, Marie, I need you to help me watch the children right now. Wait until we set sail."

I nodded my head, showing mam I understood. But inside, I was shaking to go on deck and breath in the salty air of the sea. What was taking them so long? It was 10:05, we should have gone by now.

"Now, will Mr. Gaffney be joining us?" Celeste asked, starting the conversation up again. With the mention of my father's name, a dark cloak of sadness seemed to enfolded over mam.

"No. My husband is no longer alive." Mam replied quietly.

"Oh. I'm terribly sorry." Celeste replied sympathetically. She got up and sat next to mam on the bed and patted her hand.

As if the ship could feel that we needed to get away from the United Kingdom immediately, she started up. Slowly, with a quiver of the floor and soft rumbling of her throat, Titanic started her rudders and began to wake up.

Charles, Lily and Anne started laughing and jumping on the beds again. Soon Thomas was up there as well and I being more mature restrained from jumping up with joy. The adults were excited to and began talking of America all over again. I on the other hand wanted to stretch my legs just as Titanic did and when I tapped on mam's shoulder, she nodded as if to know what I wanted.

I bid farewell and without a glance back, I ran up the stairs and kept running until I saw the sun. I skipped to the balcony and breathed in the beautiful sweet air of Ireland and the transition to the glorious salty air of the Atlantic.

Titanic and I were both on our way to America, at last!


End file.
